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"I love the way you look at me"

From over in the opposite corner of the bedroom, Xhex made no reply to the words Lash spoke From the way he was collapsed in front of the bureau, with one of his shoulders higher than the other, she thought it was entirely possible she had dislocated his upper arm And that wasn&039;t his only injury Black blood dripped off his chin fro to ith a lih

His eyes roamed over her and she didn&039;t bother to cover herself with her hands If he was up for round two, she needed every ounce of strength she had left And besides, ave a shit about your body and she&039;d long ago lost that connection

"Do you believe in love at first sight?" he asked With a grunt, he pushed hie of the dresser for support as he did some experimentation with that arm of his

"Do you?" he proi in between the jaainst the wall, faced off to the left, and took a deep breath

With a slam, he put his upper arm back into its socket and the crack and curse were loud As he sagged afterward, his breath coes of lesser blood on the whitetoward her, he smiled

"Care for a shoith me?" When she stayed silent, he shook his head "No? Pity"

He disappeared into the marble expanse and after a moment, water came on

It was only after she could hear hirance of that s and arms

No weakness She showed hi to appear strong so he would think twice about tangoing with her again Her nature refused to relent to hi

It was just how she was hardwired: She was invincible--and that wasn&039;t her ego talking The sum of her experience was, no matter as done to her, she could handle it

But dear Lord, she hated fighting hi

When he ca up, the bruises fading, the scrapes disappearing, the bones reknitting like izer Bunny

"I&039;m off to see s and he seemed momentarily complimented "I love your smile"

"Not a smile, asshole"

"Whatever you call it, I like it And someday I&039;ll introduce you to dear old Dad I have plans for us"

Lash went to lean down, no doubt to try to kiss her, but as she hissed deep in her throat, he paused and reconsidered

"I&039;ll be back," he whispered "My love"

He knew she hated the "love" crap, so she was careful to s her reaction She also didn&039;t taunt him as he turned and left

The led he beca to hietting dressed He kept his clothes in the other roos were going to roll between them: He hated messes and was fastidious about his threads

When things quieted down and she heard hied herself up off the floor The bathrooh she hated using the same soap he did, she disliked as on her skin even more

The moment she stepped under the hot spray, the marble at her feet turned both red and black as two kinds of blood washed off of her body and disappeared down the drain She was quick with the suds and rinse, because Lash had left only moments before and you could never tell with hiht back Other tiain for a whole day

The fragrance of the fancy-ass French shit Lash insisted on stocking his bathrooh she supposed most females would have enjoyed the blend of lavender and jasood ol&039; Dial Although no doubt that would sting like a bitch on the cuts, she was okay with agony, and the idea of scrubbing herself raas appealing

Each sweep up the ar was marked with aches as she bent to the side or leaned forward, and for no reason at all, she thought of the cilices she&039;d alorn to control her sy out in that bedrooh pain in her body to dampen her evil inclinations--not that it mattered, really She wasn&039;t around "normals," and that dark part of her helped her deal with this situation

Still, after two decades of wearing the barbs, it was odd not to have them with her She&039;d left the pair of spiked chains behind at the Brotherhood mansion on the bureau in the rooone up to the colony She&039;d had every intention of returning at the end of the night, showering, and putting the dust as they waited for her return

She was losing faith that there was going to be a happy reunion with those fuckers

Funny how your life could be interrupted: You left a house expecting to come back, but then the path you were on took you left instead of around again to the right